History's Most Unusual Challenge

The pastors had the joy of attending the together for the gospel conference, live stream right here in our facility this past week. The Lord really impressed on my heart the wonderful privilege that it is to serve as your pastor at Johnston Chapel. I am so unworthy, but by the grace of God he's given me this incredible responsibility to shepherd the flock here. I want you to know that I love you all so very much. And all the pastors are thrilled about the day, hopefully soon coming in which we can gather again face to face and worship together right here in our facility. Since the conference took place over three days this past week, Tuesday through Thursday I asked Pastor John King if he would be willing to preach. And his gracious acceptance of that invitation allowed me to fully invest in that conference and to enjoy that enrichment with the other pastors. So it's my joy this morning to introduce to you my predecessor, my mentor and my dear friend, Pastor John King. He pastored here at Johnston Chapel faithfully for 27 years. He did so with grace and humility and wisdom and the spirit's power. And what a joy it is to have him back, have him here to share the word with us on this day. For the past two years Pastor John has faithfully continued to preach the word of God, weak in and weak out. So Pastor John if you would please come and share with us what God has put on your heart for us today. Thank you Pastor Dan for those kind words and your gracious invitation to help you this week by coming and sharing the word of God with the people here at the chapel. But I must admit I was concerned that this would happen. I suspected when you invited me back to preach that no one would show up. And here we are. But I seriously it is a joy to be back again and to share this time with you to open the word of God to you again. Being back in this auditorium, on this platform behind this podium just brings back a flood of memories of wonderful times that we have shared together here in this auditorium. Me and I had actually planned to resume worship and fellowship with you after an 11 month time of pulpit supply at the edgemont Baptist Church in Bluefield. And actually last Sunday, Easter Sunday was to have been our first Sunday back to worship with you. I know that this time when we are separated not able to be in church together, this time simply will make it sweeter for us when we are able to be back at Johnston Chapel with you. In the meanwhile, I have been greatly blessed by the ministry of the word of God through Pastor Dan, his preaching and teaching online has fed our souls and blessed us so richly. And I must say this, although I know this will embarrass him and he would not want me to, but I must say that my heart is filled with joy at his servant leadership of the flock here and of his passionate and faithful outstanding preaching of the word of God. What a joy it has been. My heart is filled with gratitude and joy at what God is doing here and will continue to do. Well, history provides us many examples of leaders getting stirring speeches to motivate their nation to rise to the challenge of difficult times. President Abraham Lincoln, as he dedicated the cemetery at Gettysburg in 1863 after that horrendous three-day battle where over 50,000 soldiers died, said this, the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but they can never forget what they did here. But he went on to speak with words that the world would always remember and would not be able to forget and close that stirring speech by challenging his listeners to resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. That this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. Or President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his first inaugural address in March of 1933, to a nation in the vice grip of the Great Depression said these words with the swagger in his head that I will not try to imitate. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. What words of encouragement to a nation at a very low time? Or the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill speaking to the House of Commons after in 1940 that amazing evacuation of 338,000 soldiers from the beach at Dunkirk and with the imminent prospect of the Nazi invasion of England said to the House of Commons these words, we shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France. We shall fight on the seas and on the oceans. We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender. What words those were to a British nation that was in despair. But history's most unusual challenge came not from a political leader but from God himself. It was delivered to Israel and to a leader that God had chosen in one of the darkest days of Israel's history. It is recorded for us in Judges chapter 7. The 7th chapter of the book of Judges tells us how God prepared Gideon and his troops for the biggest battle of their lives. And how God prepared Gideon and his troops is also how God prepares us. We are going to see today how God challenges us to meet the most difficult battles of life. And we all have battles in life, don't we? I mean, even when life is normal, we all battle with things like we have physical battles, we have spiritual battles, we have financial battles, we have relational battles, we have vocational battles, we all battle with things in life. The world right now is engaged in a battle unlike any we have experienced in our lifetime. And no doubt that has personally touched each of you in some way. Some of you are battling right now with fear. Some of you are battling with illness. Some of you are battling with isolation and loneliness. Some of you battling with a job loss. Some of you are battling with financial difficulty and others may be battling, maybe all of us battling with the uncertainty of what's going to happen in the future. What will the future look like? We all face battles in life. And today I want us to look at how God challenges us to meet the most difficult battles of life. Actually, there are four challenges in this chapter as God challenges Gideon and his troops. He also challenges us. The first challenge is this. Be humble. Now, I know what you're thinking. Really? The biggest difficulties in life and the challenge is be humble. And can you imagine a coach with his basketball team gathered around him in the locker room before going out for the big game and he's challenging them? This is our house. We're not going to let some other team come in here and take from us what is ours in our house. Those are our fans out there. We're not going to let someone come in here and silence our fans. This is our court. We're not going to let someone come in here and other team come in here and steal a victory off of our court. So go out there and be humble. It just doesn't have the right ring to it. But that's exactly where God starts. Look at verses one and two of Judges, chapter seven. Early in the morning, Jarebeil, that is Gideon, and all his men camped at the spring of Harad. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Morey. The Lord said to Gideon, you have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands or Israel would boast against me. My own strength has saved me. Now maybe a little background will help us to understand what's going on here in this valley leading up to this battle. For the eighth year in a row, the desert dwelling Midianites have invaded the northern Israel. The Bible tells us in chapter eight and verse 10 that there were 135,000 of them. They've invaded Israel at harvest time. They are camped in the valley of Jesreal. Beautiful, amazingly large valley in northern Israel and what would later become known as Galilee. They expect to carry out their usual policy of an uncontested stripping of the land. Israel's crops will become theirs and they will triumphantly return to their land with all of Israel's crops. But God has a surprise for them this time. That surprise is that He has raised up a leader. Gideon in chapter six, He has empowered him with His Spirit and Gideon has raised an army and they are camped just across the valley from the Midianites. From where His soldiers get a drink, Gideon can see the enemy and what a sight it is. Look down with me at verse 12. Verse 12 says the Midianites, the Amalakites and all the other Eastern peoples had settled in the valley thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore. What a sight it is to look across at 135,000 soldiers. And they got all kinds of camels and you think, okay, what's up with that? The camels were the military transport vehicles of the day. They were assured that there could be fresh supplies delivered to the front lines at any time. They gave a tremendous advantage to any army that had them. Gideon is looking across that valley 135,000 soldiers armed to the teeth and then he looks back at his 32,000 troops. Most of them probably don't have military equipment. They're not a trained army. In fact, those who end up going to battle have in one hand a trumpet and in another hand an empty jar with a torch in it. You don't go into battle with that, do you? And so he looks at his 32,000 men and Gideon has got to be thinking, there is no chance. We have nothing to fight with. We don't have a trained army and we are outnumbered four to one. And in the midst of what no doubt was a great bit of fear and anxiety in his own heart, the Lord speaks these amazing words, one of the most amazing statements ever uttered in verse two to Gideon. Your army is too big. You've got too many men. We've got to get some of this down. We've got to thin this army out some. But did you notice in verse two why God said that? Notice it again, I cannot deliver midian into their hands or Israel would boast against me my own strength has saved me. God knows our innate tendency, our natural tendency to take the victory for ourselves, to take the glory away from God to somehow become proud and self-reliant in our own strength in our own victory and our own achievements. God knows that we are wired that way, that we are built that way. And so he reminds us if victory or an achievement makes you self-reliant, then that's worse than a defeat. If when you have a victory in your life or a blessing in your life, you begin to take the credit for it, it is God who gives victory, it is God who gives blessing, it is God who seeks and longs for and deserves the glory for everything that comes to us. And when we start taking the credit for what God has done, when we think the victory is because of us, our wisdom, our intelligence, our ability, our experience, oh how much we have to offer God, isn't it great that he has us on his side? When we begin thinking that way, we are literally robbing God of his glory. And we're taking to ourselves that which only belongs to him. You see what God really is saying here, you cannot be too small for God to use, but you can be too big for God to use. You see when we begin taking the glory that belongs to him, we are in trouble. So God says, be humble. God works powerfully through humble people. And that's why the New Testament tells us this in James chapter 4 and verse 6, but he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble. James quotes that same, or Peter actually quotes that same passage. It's a quote from Proverbs 3, but Peter adds this detail in the next verse and first Peter chapter 5 and verse 6, humble yourselves therefore under God's mighty hand that he may lift you up in due time. So God wants us to recognize how weak we really are. And if we think we have the experience, the intelligence, the ability, whatever, to do great things for God, he wants to remind us, humble yourselves, be humble. I think one of the greatest lessons in this pandemic, maybe the greatest lesson is how fragile and frail we really are. Nations have been brought to their knees. Economies are teetering on the brink of collapse. The medical systems of the most advanced nations have been overwhelmed. Faith and human interaction, as we know it, has been interrupted in ways that we never could have imagined and all by a microbe that cannot be seen with the naked eye. If this teaches us anything, it ought to teach us that we are not invincible, that we are weak and frail, we need God. We need Him. Certainly, that is true in all of life, but nowhere is it more true than in our salvation. My friend, the Bible says, we are not only weak and frail and fragile when it comes to your spiritual strength, the Bible says we are dead in trespasses and sins. We have really nothing to offer God by way of any effort or thing that we can do to merit salvation. We are totally dependent on Him, His grace, the provision He has made through the cross of Christ, Christ's death for us. That's the only way of salvation. We are dead in our trespasses and sins if we should learn anything, we should learn in life that we cannot do it ourselves, but it's also true of all of life, not just our salvation. It's true of all of life. We are not invincible. We are weak. We are frail. We are fragile. We need Him. So listen to the first challenge that God gives you and me. Be humble. Recognize how weak and frail you are and how much you need Him. The second challenge in this story, in this passage is this. Be fearless. Be fearless. Look at verse 3. Verse 3. Now announce to the army anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead. So 22,000 men left while 10,000 remained. I wonder what Gideon thought when he watched after he delivered this challenge from the Lord. I wonder what he thought as he watched two thirds of his army walk away. Why did God say this? But why did God say if you were afraid, go home. I don't want you in the battle. Just go home. Well, interestingly enough, long before this battle ever happened, while the children of Israel were still wandering in the wilderness, God anticipated this very kind of scenario and said these words to Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 20. In Deuteronomy chapter 20, he gives him these instructions. He says, when you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them because the Lord your God who brought you up out of Egypt will be with you. But when you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. He shall say, here Israel, today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be faint-hearted or afraid. Do not panic or be terrified by them. For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory. So the very scene that he's talking about in Deuteronomy 20, Israel is now facing with Gideon in his troops. But why did God tell them that? After a few other instructions there in Deuteronomy 20, he says in verse 8, then the officers shall add is anyone afraid or faint-hearted, let him go home so that his fellow soldiers will not become disheartened too. You see, God promised to Israel and he promises to us his presence and his power for whatever battle we face, whatever difficulty we face. He's promised us his presence and his power. And if we will not let the assurance of his presence and power drive out our fear and allow faith to conquer that fear, then God will not allow us the joy of the battle, the victory, the blessing. And the reason why is because he says fear is contagious. He told them in that last verse in verse 8, it will infect other soldiers if you're fearful, it spreads. Fear is contagious. Fear spreads. Certainly, that has been the case in this pandemic, hasn't it? The thing that we most struggle with is fear. But fear is contagious. We've seen that so graphically. You catch it from the reports that you hear every day. You catch fear from the daily news reports that are consumed with the pandemic. You catch fear from the numbers that you see going up every day. You catch fear from all the conspiracies, theories swirling around social media and that fear then gets spread to others. My friend, what a great time this is for believers to display the calm peace and the unshakable faith that we have in Christ to a world that is struggling with fear rather than catching fear rather than allowing fear to keep the faith and unshakable strength we have in Christ from coming through. Rather than that, what a great time this is to demonstrate to this world that we don't need to fear, that we don't need to panic, that we can trust in our great God. If there were ever a time when we ought to be ready to answer the questions of those who question what hope we have in Christ, it ought to be now rather than sliding along with the fear of this world. Let's rise to the occasion, listen to God's challenge, be fearless. Trust me, I promised you my power, I promised you my presence, I go into the battle with you and before you. So whatever you're facing, be fearless, trust God's presence and power. The third challenge that God gives us is this, be focused, be focused, look at verse 4. But the Lord said to Gideon, there are still too many men. Take them down to the water and I will thin them out for you there. If I say this one shall go with you, he shall go. But if I say this one shall not go with you, he shall not go. So Gideon took them in down to the water. There the Lord told him, separate those who laughed the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink. 300 of them drank from cut hands, laughing like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. The Lord said to Gideon, with the 300 men that laughed, I will save you and give the Midianite sent to your hands, let all the others go home. So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home, but kept the 300 who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. This is an interesting test of the army of Gideon. It is a test. The soldiers are being tested here. It's a very simple test. A God tells Gideon just take them in down to the spring for a drink of water. Watch what they do. Once he gets there and they start to drink, he tells them he tells Gideon what to look for. Very simple test. It's not only a simple test, it's a secret test. The soldiers don't even know they're being tested. They surely do not know what God's looking for. Not even Gideon is really sure until God fully explains it to him. This is a secret test. You know, God's tests of us usually are secret tests. And they display what really we are focused on, what really the priorities of our lives are. I can remember when I was in college and seminary back when the earth was still drying out from the flood. I can remember that there were chilling words that sometimes you would hear at the beginning of class. The most chilling words you could possibly hear were these. Take out a blank sheet of paper. Oh, you knew what was coming then. You knew it was going to be a pop quiz. This is not a test that has been in the syllabus with the date firmly attached to it. You knew it was coming. You had time to prepare. You could study. There's not that kind of test. This is a pop quiz. This is a surprise. This is a secret test. Now, what the professor is trying to find out is whether or not you were really focused on the lecture from the class period before or whether or not you were really focused on that assignment of reading that you were supposed to do the night before. He's going to find out what's really there, how focused you really are on your studies. That's how most of God's tests come to us. Oh, there are some tests that we might anticipate. We know an event or assignment or responsibilities coming up. We know that may be a severe test for us, but most of God's tests come unannounced. God doesn't tell us, okay, next Tuesday at four o'clock, you're going to be really tested. Here's what it's going to be. I'll give you a cheat sheet to study so you can be ready. No, life happens. Life comes. In God's Providence, pop quizzes happen. And that's the way he typically tests us, but he tests us with those secret tests to find out where our focus really is, to show us where our focus really is. So it was a simple test. It was a secret test, but it was also a significant test. The manner of drinking water would reveal the soldier's attitude toward the enemy. And whether or not they were really focused. Those who got down on their knees and put their head down into the creek and just drank for all they were worth, obviously were more focused on quenching their own thirst. Those who got some water in their hand, cupped it in their hand, remained standing and laughed it like a dog were focused on the enemy. You see, they would not take their eyes off the enemy. They would not take their eyes off the task before them. They were focused on the task, committed to the task that was in front of them. And I think of that test and God testing them to see before he sends them into battle, to face that great battle. Where is your focus? I'm reminded that God's looking to my life when He tests me and your life when we are tested, when we face difficulty. Where is our focus? Now where is our focus supposed to be? Well the writer of Hebrews tells us where it's supposed to be. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 1 says, this is how we're to do the race of life. He says, therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance. The race marked out for us. Now how are we supposed to run that race with perseverance? Look at these next words, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of faith for the joy set before Him. He endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. He goes on to bring our focus again in verse 3 when He says, consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. The Bible tells us here that our focus in the race of life is not to be on the crowd in the stands cheering us on. It's not to be on the runners ahead of us or the runners behind us as though we want to catch somebody or we want to put ourselves away from those who are coming behind us. No, no, the focus is to be on the finish line, the finish line is Christ. Christ is to be our focus. I wonder for me and for you too today, where is our focus? Are we really focused on Christ? Are we really focused on Him? Are we really fervently committed to Christ? Is He the burning desire of your heart and my heart? Does He matter to you more than anyone else or anything else? Not certainly true of Paul. In Philippians 1, Paul said for to me to live is Christ and that wasn't just some mantra that he repeated, you know, as kind of a motto of his life. He was living that out. If you read the verses around that verse, you'll find that Paul basically is writing to the Philippians to tell them, he says in verse 12, the things that have happened to me and the things that have happened to him, where he's in prison. He's in a Roman prison, but you know, he says because I'm in this Roman prison, the gospel of Christ is penetrating into areas that it might not have otherwise. These soldiers that are guarding me are actually taking the gospel, what I'm sharing with them, into the very household of Caesar. And so the gospel of Christ is being spread. And he said, you know, there are some other preachers who are preaching. Since I'm gone, I've kind of risen to the occasion. Some of them are doing it for the wrong motives. They're hoping to build a name for themselves and kind of, you know, take some of the claim that maybe I would have received or some of the opportunities I would have had. And God will deal with their motives. I'm sure, but He says, you know, I'm just grateful. I rejoice that Christ is being preached. God will sort out the motives of the preachers, but Christ is being preached. And then He tells the Philippians, you know, I'm not sure what's going to happen to me. I might die, but if I do, that's far better because it means I get to be with Christ. And He says, but I may also be left here. And He is convinced that God will leave him here. But He says that's okay too, because that just means I get to serve Christ for a longer period of time. You see, Paul is really living out for to me to live is Christ. Everything is about Christ. I'm in prison, but the gospel of Christ is being proclaimed. Preachers are trying to take advantage of that, but at least they're preaching Christ. If I die, I get to be with Christ. If I stay, I get to serve Christ. It's all about Christ. It really is about Christ. Where's your focus today? Where's my focus? His Guinness in his 2016 book, Impossible People, tells the story of being at the bedside of his good friend John R. W. Stott, three weeks before Stott died. If you're not familiar with the name John R. W. Stott, Stott was an amazing preacher in London, pastor of all souls church in London. In the last half of the 20th century, he was actually the chaplain, the Queen Elizabeth, for a long period of time. An amazing preacher, a deep, solid Bible teacher wrote over 50 books, just an amazing spokesperson worldwide for our movement, evangelical churches, those who believe and love the gospel. Stott wrote so many good books. I still think my favorite book on preaching is his book between two worlds, an amazing book on how to preach the word. Anytime I'd be preaching through a book of the Bible, I'd look to see if John Stott had written a commentary because I knew it was going to be rich in both exposition and application. But Guinness writes this of that last meeting with Stott. He says, I knew him over many decades, but I will never forget my last visit to his bedside, three weeks before he died. After an unforgettable hour and more of sharing many memories over many years, I asked him how he would like me to pray for him, lying weakly on his back and barely able to speak. He answered in a horse whisper, pray that I will be faithful to Jesus until my last breath. I would hope that if I lay on a deathbed someday with enough presence of vine to answer that kind of question, that my response would be something like that. I'm not sure it would be, but he did not ask that God would hasten his easest suffering and hasten his departure to be with Christ. He didn't even ask that God would give peace and comfort to his family. Those are wonderful things and good things to ask for, but his focus, even as he lay dying, was pray that I will be faithful to Jesus until my last breath. Where is your focus today, friend? Is it on Christ? Listen to the challenge of God as you face great difficulties in life. Be focused. The last challenge that he gives to Gideon and to us is this, be trusting. Be trusting. Verse 9. During that night, the Lord said to Gideon, let me stop right there, I doubt that Gideon's sleeping very well that night. He's just been whittled down to 300 men in his army. The Bible doesn't say this about Gideon, although he's now outnumbered 450 to one, rather than 4 to 1. The Bible doesn't say this about Gideon, but I like to put myself in the sandals of Bible characters and think, how would I respond if this were happening? I think I would have been saying, when God shows up again, I think I would have been saying, no, no, not again. God, is it going to be down to me and my armor bearer now? But notice that God doesn't whittle the army down anymore. That's what He says to him. Get up, go down against the camp because I'm going to give it into your hands. He says, now it's time for the battle. Now it's time to attack. I love that, but I also love what He says to him next in verse 10. Notice it, if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant, Pura, and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp, so he and Pura, his servant, went down to the outposts of the camp. It's amazing that God would do this. I think it's an evidence of God's mercy and grace to Gideon. He knows Gideon's heart, he knows that Gideon is timid by nature from what we know of him in chapter 6. He knows that Gideon has some fear and anxiety about going into battle. But why would God give him this encouragement when He told all the other soldiers who were afraid, go home? Why would He do that? Could it be because Gideon is the leader? And as the leader of the army, He carries a greater degree of responsibility than any other soldier in that army. He really is responsible for every other soldier there. There is a sense, humanly speaking, where he is responsible for the battle, responsible for the future of Israel, and God graciously and mercifully reaches out to the heart of this timid warrior. He says, if you have any fear and anxiety, I want to help you with that. He says, I want you to go down to the camp, I want you to listen to what they are saying. Verse 12, we have already read about the great camp of the Amalakites, 135,000 of them, their tents all over that valley. But look at verse 13. Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. Now notice how that is phrased. He arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dreams. Don't slip past too easily that little time reference. Just as a man was telling a friend his dream. I had a dream, he was saying, around loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed. His friend responded, this can be nothing other than the sort of Gideon, son of Joe Ash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands. When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshipped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, get up. The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands. I believe this story resonates with the Providence of God. I think it's one of the greatest Old Testament examples of God's Providence of his control over every circumstance to bring to bear his mercy and his grace and his assurance to Gideon. I think it rivals the Book of Esther as one of the greatest Old Testament examples of God's Providence. Think of it for a moment. There are 135,000 Midianite troops, probably thousands of tents set up in that valley. Gideon comes to just the right tent at just the right time undetected just as God has placed in the mind of a Midianite soldier a dream and just as God has placed in his tent mates mind the interpretation of that dream. Gideon shows up at just the right tent, just the right time undetected just as that soldier wakes up to tell his dream to his friend. And he hears all of this. It's an amazing story of God's Providence. But I think in those moments Gideon understood something that he had not yet understood up to this time. And that is that this battle is really not between 135,000 Midianites and 300 Israelites. This battle is between 135,000 Midianites and God. And it's no match. The Midianites are no match for Almighty God. And I think that in that moment Gideon was assured that it's not up to us. I serve a great God. I think he caught a vision of the majesty of the greatness of God. You know why I think that? Because the Bible says here his first response was not to run back quickly to the Israelite camp and say, we got this, we can do this. No. His first response, the Bible tells us, was to bow down and worship. So he saw the greatness of God. We caught a vision of the glory of God. Of just how big God is. We are never prepared for the battles of life, no matter what they may be. We're never prepared for the battles of life until we catch a glimpse of the greatness of God. Until we realize that he is the one fighting the battle. He is always the hero. He is the one who goes to battle for us. Robert Dick Wilson was an Old Testament Hebrew professor at Princeton Seminary back in the early 1900s, the teens in the 20s. What an amazing time that was at a very at that time, conservative seminary at Princeton University. Robert Dick Wilson was the Old Testament Hebrew professor. The New Testament Greek professor at the same time was J. Gresham Machen. The theology professor headed the theology department was Benjamin B. Warfield. You may or may not be familiar with those names, but is clearly recognized that those three men were three of the greatest biblical scholars ever. To be on the same campus at the same time, what an amazing faculty. Robert Dick Wilson was the Old Testament guy. He was a brilliant man, an amazing intellect. He knew 45 languages, including every language that the Bible had been translated into up to 600 AD. 45 languages he knew. Tremendous intellect. Professors at the Seminary were not required to go to every chapel service, but any time an alumnus was speaking, Robert Dick Wilson was sure to be there. I want to ask him one time, why do you always come to chapel when there's an alumnus speaking and Wilson gave this response? I want to see if he is a big gotter or a little gotter, and then I'll know everything I need to know about his ministry. And his own unusual way, he was saying, I want to know if that young man has an image in his heart of the greatness of God. I want to know what he believes about the glory of God. I want to know if he believes that God is a big God, not a little God. Then I'll know everything I need to know about his ministry. Maybe you're struggling right now in your life with difficulties that you wonder whether you can meet. You may even doubt whether or not God can meet them. If you're struggling with your view of the glory of God, the greatness of God, the thickness of God, I just want to challenge you during this time when maybe you're at home more than normal, take some time to just soak in Isaiah 40. Just spend some time reading Isaiah 40 and let it wash over your soul because Isaiah 40 offers us a stunning picture of how big God really is. The oceans of planet earth have 340 quintillion gallons of water. That's a number two big for me to imagine. A quintillion is one with 18 zeros behind it. And the world's oceans have 340 quintillion gallons of water. Isaiah 40 verse 12 says that God holds the oceans in the palm of His hand. That's how big our God is. Did you know the planet earth weighs 6 sectillion metric tons? Now a sectillion is one with 21 zeros behind it again. The unimaginable number, the earth weighs 6 sectillion metric tons. And Isaiah 40 verse 15 says that to God the earth is like dust on the scales. Astronomers tell us that the known universe is 330 billion light years across. That's how the span of the universe is. 30 billion light years. Again, a number that we cannot even begin to imagine. A light year is the distance that light travels in a year. And when you realize that light travels 186 thousand miles in a second, seven and a half revolutions around the earth in one second, then you got to multiply that 186 thousand miles by 60 to get how far traveled in a minute. Then you got to multiple that number by 60 to get how far travels in an hour. You got to multiply that by 20. 1400 to get how far travels in a day. Then you got to multiply by 35 to get man travels in a month again, that number by 11th to get map by 4th to that February the new year? How far light travels in the year? unbelievable distance. We cannot begin to imagine it. And the universe spans 30 billion of those light years. But Isaiah 40 verse 26 says that God measures the universe with the span of his hand. The span of his hand. That's how big our God is. Astronomers also tell us that there are 100 billion stars in our galaxy. I'm not talking about planets and other planetary bodies, but stars, like our Sun, 100 million of them in our galaxy alone. And there are 100 million other galaxies, each with a hundred million stars. 100 billion stars in them. 100 billion galaxies with 100 billion stars in each one. The numbers again start, you know, create smoke coming out of your ears. You fry a few circuits trying to think of that. And yet the Bible tells us in Isaiah 40 verse 26 that God calls each star by name. It's not just that he knows how many there are. He has a name for each one. That's how big our God is. Maybe, just maybe, we need to stop only telling God how big our problems are. That's fine. But maybe we need to go beyond that to tell our problems how big our God is. How great our God is. Gideon and the troops of Israel would go on to win an amazing victory. There's never been an upset in military history like this one. There's never been an upset in sports history like this one. Outnumbered 450 to one and they win a tremendous victory. The only way I can even begin to imagine those kind of odds in overcoming them is like this. This is like a football team of junior high girls taking on the Super Bowl champions. Let's say the New England Patriots. And winning 49 to nothing. That's the kind of victory this was. And yet God gave it the key to this victory was the challenge that God gave to Gideon and his troops. And my friend, I want to leave you with this thought. The key to every battle you face is listening to God and trusting what he says. So listen to him and trust what he says. When he says, be humble. Recognize how frail and weak you really are. And know that he is able to meet your need. When he says, be fearless. Don't let fear keep you from the joy of battle and the victory. Trust him in the midst of that fear. When he says, be focused. Center your life and heart on Christ. And when he says, be trusting. Believe that a great and powerful God, one who is worthy of us bowing the knee and worshipping is great enough to give you his presence and power no matter what the difficulty you face. Would you pray with me this morning? Father, thank you that you are such a great God. Thank you for the challenge you give us to face the greatest difficulties of our lives. I pray, Father, that you would help us to rise to the challenge, not in our own strength, but recognizing that we must be humble, recognizing how weak and frail and powerless we really are. How strong you are. Help us to realize that we can be fearless because you've promised us your presence and power. Help us to be focused on Christ and Christ alone and help us to be trusting because you are a great God, a big God. Thank you. Help us in Jesus name, amen. What a powerful and timely reminder from Pastor John. How good was it to hear Pastor John preach once again here at Johnson Chapel and to reference the New England Patriots? How great is that? Although, you know, without Tom Brady, they may be in trouble against the middle school girls football team. I don't know. We'll have to see. But thank you so much for your ministry here today. Faithful ministry of the word. If you know someone who would be particularly blessed and I know anyone who listens to the sermon will be. But if that person doesn't have access to the internet, no Facebook, no access to YouTube or our website, we do have audio versions of all our messages on CD available right here in our church office. So please call the church office and we'd be glad to put a copy of that into your hands. Let's go ahead and close this morning with the word of God, the inspired and perfect word of God from a Romans 11 and verse 33. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out. Who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor, who has ever given to God that God should repay him for from him and through him and to him are all things to him be the glory forever. Amen.